Went to the homeschool parents meeting a few evenings ago and now I’m all pumped up for the year ahead! Tons of topic ideas are spinning. I like to focus on a topic each week (or sometimes for two weeks). This week we are talking about sharing (any guesses why I picked this one?). Each week we pull scripture about our topic and dig out some related craft projects from our Bible activity books. On Monday we talked about the little boy who shared his bread and fish and how Jesus used it to share lunch with the entire crowd. We also (very creatively) incorporate our science lessons into our theme. Since we are learning about plants and how they grow this week, Grandma is going to share a clipping from one of her plants with us that we will plant in some soil and attempt to nurture and grow. Then, on Friday we will make thank you cards to Grandma for sharing with us, getting in a bit of art and creative writing too. We take field trips every Friday. Sometimes we’ll simply head to the to the park and other times we’ll travel out of town for an exciting new adventure. This week we will picnic at the park and each of the boys will have just one part (ingredient) of lunch in their sacks and will hopefully realize that we will all need to share. We go to the library each week as well and seek out books about our topic that we read throughout the week. And when possible, our math and reading/writing work and our vocabulary words incorporate bits of our theme too.

This last month I planned each week of August in advance. Last week we discussed babies and since our science lessons were on animals we incorporated lessons and projects on baby animals too. The highlights of last weeks topic include visiting the hospital nursery (where our newest addition will soon be born) and learning about how we use animals for food (we made our own butter), clothes and work. Planning the month in advance worked out great, so I think I’ll take some time this weekend to plan out all of September. I created a topic planning worksheet, a field trip planner and a weekly lesson plan to help me with my curriculum planning, which you are welcome to download for personal use.

Tiffanie

To discuss more about Creative Schooling, please visit the Homemade Homeschoolers Forum.

As summer draws to an end and the school year begins, I like to think up fun craft projects to kick off the semester.  One that is a family favorite is making a yard stick art displayer.  My children are prolific artists.  There is a seemingly never-ending production of masterpieces every day.  I want to treasure each one, but what do I do with them? This art holder/displayer is our solution.  They are cheap, customizable, and extremely easy to make – even my youngest can participate.  We have made them when we move, redecorate, or when one breaks.  Artwork can be changed daily, or shown indefinitely.  I have them above their desks now, but in the past they have hung in their rooms as well.

Finished Displayer

What you need.

• One wooden yardstick per displayer.  If you can find the type with holes at each end, it makes hanging very simple.
• Wooden spring-loaded clothespins.  We use 5 on each displayer.
• Tempera paint in variety of colors.  Tempera makes clean-up very easy, but with older children acrylic or wood paint would work nicely also.
• Glue gun.

How to Assemble

Simply paint each yardstick and clothespin in desired colors.  Creativity is endless here.  My son made one with each clothespin as a different animal.  My daughter has drawn intricate characters and filled them in with a fine point brush.  Give them a theme, or let them decide!  You could do a different one to display each subject and decorate them accordingly.  (Ex:  One for Science decorated with beakers and test tubes to display scientific diagrams; a different one with numbers to display Math work, etc.)  I have found that a double layer of paint is best on the yardsticks to cover the measurements marked on them.  Also, keep in mind that only one side of each clothespin will be visible.

Next you will glue the clothespins to the yardstick, once all paint is dry.  We use 5 clothespins per yardstick and glue them evenly across.  I have also made them to hang vertically by gluing the clothespins long-ways down the yardstick.  This is perfect if horizontal wall space is limited.  Older children familiar with the safe use of a glue gun can do this entire project by themselves.  Younger children will need help gluing, of course.

Close-up of clothespin attachment

Have fun!  These have been a great way to show off the kids’ artwork while keeping tape off of the walls!

Yardstick Displayers in use

To discuss crafts, art projects, and other Homeschooling topics and ideas, please visit our Homemade Homeschoolers discussion forum.

You can read the title, but does it make sense?  Of course not!  It should read:  “Which Homonym Would You Choose?”   Obviously, using the correct word when writing is very important.  However, deciding on which spelling to use can be very difficult for students.  Here I will introduce you to homonyms and provide you with some games to solidify your young writer’s understanding.

Homonyms are words that sound the same but have different meanings, and often different spellings.

There are many sets of words in English that have very different meanings from one another, but are often confused because they sound the same. These  sets of words are called homonyms. Here are some of them (there are many more, but this will get you started) :

It’s: The contraction for it is

Its: The possessive of it

Wait: Allow a time interval

Weight: Poundage on a scale

I’ll: The contraction for I will

Aisle: Walking space between seats

I: Me

Eye: What we use to see with

There: In that location

Their: Belongs to them

Seam: Sew something together

Seem: Appear to be

Hole: Represents a missing piece

Whole: The entire thing, with nothing missing

Light: Something that shines

Lite: Light (in weight)

Bite: A piece of food

Byte: A unit of information (on the computer)

Write: Apply pencil to paper (for instance)

Right: Correct

Sight: The ability to see

Site: Location

Cite: Acknowledge

Intoduce your student to homonyms, giving these and/or other examples.  Use them in sentences to demonstrate how context can help decide which spelling to use.  Since games are a wonderful learning tool for children, I have searched down a few for you to enjoy.

For younger students:

Make picture to word matching cards. On one card (index or smaller) draw a picture (Ex: an eye), then write out the word on a separate card.  Do the same for the word’s homonym(s) (Ex:  I, a picture of me).  Do this for as many homonyms as you have reviewed with your student, and let them go to work matching the pictures to the words.

Make homonym dominoes. If you don’t know the basic concept of playing dominoes, this may be confusing.  Consult the original game or someone who plays.  Cut index cards in half lengthwise.  On one end write a homonym (Ex:  sum).  On the other end write an unrelated homonym (Ex:  ate).   Take a second card and write one of the related  homonyms (Ex:  some) and an unrelated homonym (Ex:  ten).  Take a third and write the second related homonym match on one end (Ex:  eight) and an unrelated homonym on the other end (Ex:  win).   Continue this pattern, using as many homonyms as you wish for your student to learn.

To Play:

• Share dominoes equally among players.
• Players take turns to put down a domino matching a word with another word which sounds the same, but has a different meaning.
• The first player to put down all their dominoes or who has the least number left, is the winner.

Extended Lesson:

• Get students to look up and compare the definition of each homonym in a dictionary.
• Ask students to say a sentence using both homonyms. (Ex:  I bought medicine for my eye.)

For Older Students:

Go here to get a description of the game Horrid Homonyms.  This is for a classroom, but is easily adaptable to the home school.

Online Games:

BBC Skillwise has a great Fact Sheet to teach concepts, Online Quiz, and Matching Game with sound.

Quia has several games and a word search.

Go here for a great online “choose the correct homonym” game.

Enjoy!  Remember to write me at Contact HMHS to submit any questions related to Language Arts!  I will answer them in upcoming blogs.

Big Den

To discuss Homonyms and other Homeschooling topics and ideas, please visit our Homemade Homeschoolers discussion forum.

We moved into our home in the TN countryside a little over a year ago.  Although it was a nice home and well kept, shortly after moving in we noticed a little visitor in our kitchen.  It’s one of those moments when you see something in your peripheral vision and then immediately doubt whether you saw something or not.  A quick flash of movement, but then never track anything down.  So, I began a thorough investigation by pulling out the refrigerator and stove.  Ah ha!  Mouse droppings.  I cleaned the areas and patched the teeniest, tiniest hole in the wall behind the stove.  Well, I guess I patched his favorite escape route.  He didn’t remain in my peripheral vision anymore!  I began to see him on the stove, running across the kitchen in broad daylight, and even sitting on my forks when I opened the utensil drawer!  Okay, Mousey must go.  Of course by now the kids thought this was the coolest thing ever!  They would NOT hear of killing it!  Being the mother that I am, and animal lover to boot, I searched for a no kill mousetrap.  I ordered it on next day shipment.  That night I snapped a picture of our little friend behind the stove and was feeling quite satisfied (because he was really cute) that I was going to gently relocate him to a farm meadow a mile from our home.

Our mouse behind the stove.

Shipment day dawned.  I went to feed my big, silly dog and found, to my horror, our little mouse floating in his water bowl!  Oh dear!  He would have had a beautiful life in the field if he had just waited one more day.  What to do with him now?  To other people’s horror, I decided this was an unbeatable learning opportunity.  I took our little guy and dried him off, double bagged him in a ziplock, and popped him in the freezer.  I then gathered all I needed to embark on one of the best unit studies we have done to date!  Over the following days, we examined our specimen, recording it’s length, weight, color, and sex.  We compared his tail length to overall body length and compared this information to data collected on our pet rats.  We researched and recorded the scientific names and distributions of various mouse species.  We used Draw Write Now to draw and color pictures of mice.  The kids wrote essays on their findings and fictional stories involving mice (my youngest, only 4 at the time, would dictate to me).  We read several books with mice in them, including The Mouse and The Motorcycle, The Rats of Nimh, and Stuart Little. We discussed these stories and completed numerous activities relating to them.  We then read all of the Beatrix Potter stories involving mice and studied her life as well.  We made a timeline of her life and major world events during her time.  We mapped where she lived and compared that to the mapped distribution of the mouse species.  It was a wonderful time of learning!

Studying our little frozen friend.

Because I’m just a city girl, my mom needed to tell me that where there is one mouse, there are almost always more.  So, I set our anxiously awaited trap.  Two days later, we had one live mouse to compare to our frozen mouse.  Since the trap is transparent, we were able to gather all the data we needed without being bitten!  That evening, we took our live mouse and released her in a pretty field near a copse of trees.  We also had a formal burial ceremony for her dearly departed husband.  Over the following weeks we captured and released a total of 3 more mice using our wonderful trap.  Each time we could gather data and compare it to previously recorded mouse information.  Needless to say, the kids are now experts on Mus musculus (the House Mouse) and really enjoyed this educational experience!  Our kitchen visitations stopped completely.  No mice were seen and no evidence of mice could be found.   The trap was subsequently lent out to several friends to catch mice and escaped pet gerbils and hamsters!  It worked each time.  Our mouse problem was gone.  Until….last week I was cleaning up in the school room and found mouse droppings!  With much excitement, we dusted off the mouse trap and set it up with a little peanut butter.  The very next morning, we found not one, but TWO mice in it!!  Very cool, and something the kids will remember and talk about many years from now.  An educational experience to last a lifetime!

Two at a time!

To discuss Unit Studies and other Homeschooling topics and ideas, please visit our Homemade Homeschoolers discussion forum.

A successful catch and release!

I grew up on a farm.  We raised Angus beef cattle, chickens, and Mallard ducks, along with the corn, oats, soy beans and alfalfa crops.  We also had our pets.  Many times I’ve been asked how you can have a farm animal for a pet when you raise them for food.  There was always a distinction between the farm animals and your pets – you did not eat your pets!

I think every child should have the responsibility of having a pet.  Not only can it be a great companion for the child, but being responsible for another living thing can teach the child so much about life.  Of course, almost all pets do not live as long as we do, so it also teaches the child about the end of life.

I had 2 favorite pets as a child, not counting the cats and dogs.  I was the one in charge of raising the Mallard ducks, which really consisted of, not only feeding them, but checking their nests when they were hatching in the springtime.  Sometimes the hen would leave the nest before all the eggs were hatched, and we would then incubate the eggs until they hatched and give the ducklings to their mother.  One nest had a duckling that had pipped the egg, which means that it had broken the shell with the sharp point on its beak, but needed help to finish the job.  I brought the egg into the house and helped the duckling hatch.  It is true about ducks imprinting on their mother – I had become the mother!

I begged my mom to let us keep the duckling in the house after I tried to give it to the mother hen and she would just chase it and peck at it.  Of course, the duckling would always follow me as I tried to leave it anyway.  Having a soft heart (or something!) my mother said OK.  From that day on, Beeper lived in a box in our kitchen for the next 3 ½ years.  Ducks are quite messy birds, so any time anyone came to visit, I had to quickly change the newspaper in the bottom of her box.

She loved to hear my sister and I play the accordion.  In fact, her favorite song was Missouri Waltz.  As soon as she heard that song, she would tuck her bill into her wing, close her eyes, stand on 1 foot and coo.  If we were playing any other song, and then broke into Missouri Waltz, she would always respond the same way!

Beeper would follow me around where ever I went.  We would go fishing in the Iowa lakes and let her go swimming, but when it was time to go home, we just called for her and she would come back to us.

She was not accepted by the other ducks on the farm.  They would chase her away and come running back to me.  After a couple of years, when springtime came, she made a nest and started laying eggs.  Of course, they were not fertile eggs and would only rot, so I decided to swipe an egg from another nest to put in Beeper’s nest.  She was very diligent about staying on her eggs, until the fertile egg finally hatched.  I think she thought she was human though, because she ran away from the duckling as fast as she could.  I’ll never forget seeing the poor duckling try to catch up with her!

It was a heart breaking loss to me when my dad found her dead on the gravel road.  Apparently, she had wandered on to the road and was hit by a car.  It was a good lesson in dealing with grief for me, but perhaps not for my mom who put up with Beeper in the kitchen for 3 ½ years!

Barn Owl

Our second unusual pet was a barn owl.  My mother had found the baby owl abandoned in its nest and brought it home.  We studied up on owls and decided to help it grow to maturity, after naming it Oscar.  We put it in one of our parakeet cages and found that Oscar loved chicken livers.  Living in a small town, it soon got around that we needed chicken livers, so all the farms and the butcher shop in town saved us the chicken livers.  Oscar grew into a beautiful bird.  I’ll never forget his wondrous eyes and how it seemed that he could  turn his head in a complete circle.

One day we were shelling corn and it was my little brother’s job to kill the mice as they ran out of the corn crib.  Of course, the first couple of mice he gave to Oscar who relished the change of diet.  The next day, my mother went to the freezer to take out meat for dinner to thaw, and I heard this scream.  When I came running, I saw what the problem was.  My brother had laid out 6 nice mice in the freezer for the next few Oscar meals!

We have many Beeper, Oscar and other pet stories, but I think having this in my background helped me raise my kids with a great respect for pets and the responsibility that goes with them.  In fact, my daughter took it to heart and is a practicing vet technician at an Emergency Clinic.  She has her own menagerie of a Golden Retriever, 2 rats, 3 slider turtles and, at one time – 5 cats!

For more information on the Common Barn Owl, go here.

Punctuation Marks: Periods, Colons, Semicolons, Question Marks, Exclamation Points, Quotation Marks

Let’s take the easy ones first: a period goes at the end of a sentence and indicates the end of a complete thought. The same is usually true for question marks and exclamation points, except that, as implied, they end a question or an exclamation, respectively.  Question marks and exclamation points, though, don’t necessarily end a sentence. Examples:

This sentence is a simple declaration.

Is this sentence a question?

“Where is your homework?” mom asked.

This sentence is an exclamation of surprise!

“Wow!” Jimmy exclaimed.

Commas separate parallel words in a series. The rule of “serial commas” says that prior to “and,” (a conjunction introducing the last word in the series) a comma is also used. Example:

The correct answer is a, b, and c.

A semicolon separates clauses like a comma separates words. Example:

He knew she was right; he just didn’t want to admit it.

A colon introduces a separate thought within the sentence. Example:

He had everything he needed: looks, charm, and athletic ability.

Quotation marks normally go outside the punctuation only if it pertains to the quoted material. Examples:

He said, “Don’t do that now!”

“Why did that happen?” is what she wanted to know.

We’ll consider other points of English usage in the future.

Sidenote:  If you have questions for Big Den about spelling, grammar, writing, editing, etc…, send them here and he will address them in upcoming blogs!

Our newest contributor is our resident expert on Language Arts.  Dennis has spent the majority of his adult life writing and editing.  In fact, his nickname has always been “The Walking Dictionary”!  He will be offering us advice and information on Language Arts, so keep checking back or subscribe to get his latest English tips automatically.  –  Shelly

I received my BA-Journalism from Marquette University in Milwaukee and spent my entire career in communications as a writer/editor/publisher, mostly in the aerospace/defense industry in Southern California. I was also a long-time member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC).

No matter what course we follow in life, the proper use of English is important. But it seems to have become devalued in this day and age. Correct English still says something about the writer…that he or she is educated and articulate. This is especially important for those whose native language is not English and those who felt that “even though it’s not quite right, they’ll know what I mean.”

Two of the most glaring errors I see nowadays are typos (even in professional media, including television) and the use of “that” instead of “who” or “whom” when referring to a person.

With much of today’s communications originating on computers that incorporate spell-checkers, there is really no excuse except carelessness for the typos that seem to appear everywhere.

The other problem just requires a little thought by the writer. (For instance, do I really mean “the player THAT hit the home run” or “the player WHO hit the home run”?) Sounds different, doesn’t it?

That’s it for now…perhaps in the future, I’ll have some additional suggestions from “the wonderful world of English.”

–  Big Den

Homeschooling, I am finding, can involve a lot of spending. We pay for curriculum and everything that goes along with it. Every school supply, every manipulative, every poster and science project and field trip and printed handout and book… you get the point. To keep expenses reasonably within our budget, I have become pretty darn creative. Most of what we use for manipulatives, science experiments and the such are items gathered from various locations in our home. (Oh, the things you can do with your dishes, or canned goods, or collection of DVD’s – which are great for reading exercises, creative storytelling and alphabetizing.) We keep shoe boxes, milk jugs and assorted plastic containers for random projects and various uses. Blocks and legos make great alternatives to buying another $20 dollar pack of linking cubes and having the kids help to create their own flash cards (for all that we use flash cards for) is not only a lesson in itself, but can be a lot of fun. Using their toys as visual props or to act out scenes and scenarios is amusing and helps my kidos to better remember what it is that I’m saying. Hands on learning and real life experiences don’t always have to mean an expensive trip to the museum or science center. All we have to do is travel to the kitchen and bake some cookies (I prefer oatmeal) to learn about the metric system, solids, liquids and gases or following directions. And the laundry room… it holds great lessons on color sorting, counting and size comparison (and what could be better than learning and laundry)! An exploration of the back yard is full of hands on science (be sure to schedule in enough time to finish these lessons with a bath) and the internet provides unlimited access to anywhere in the world. Using the computer, hats, scarfs and other items for dress up along with our imaginations, we can go where ever we want and learn all sorts of interesting things when we get there. Not only is making use of the supplies and resources in our home cost efficient, but it’s a ton of fun for the kids and often times they don’t even realize they’re “doing school”.

For more information on Tiffanie.